The news this morning: America continues to be a society starkly divided, in which a wealthy fortunate minority diligently works to prepare its own children for a future of perpetuating their social and economic dominance, while the less fortunate majority struggles simply to survive. It's Tuesday.

In the Hamptons, where the ruling class has turned "summer" into a verb, the great financiers and industrialists of the future are given no chance to rest, lest some enterprising "normal" American teen take their spot in the upper crust. That means S.A.T. tutoring, all summer long, a demand which has farcically "trickled" down to the overeducated creative underclass. From the NYT:

In some cases, tutoring companies rent their own pricey houses to avoid any awkward breakfast encounters.

Last summer, Mr. Brown rented a $10,000-a-season two-bedroom "shack" in Hampton Bays for tutors from his Manhattan-based company, Brownstone Tutors. This year, he upgraded to a charming, shingled three-bedroom cottage - $15,000 for two months; a friend of a friend brokered a deal - around the corner from the Whaling Museum in Sag Harbor. His tutors are putting in 15 to 20 hours a week at $200 to $400 an hour

In the pricey Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea—in what can fairly be interpreted as a slap in the face of the non-wealthy, a tangible representation of our nation's woefully misaligned priorities—a new "pet hotel" offers the rich the ability to pamper their dogs, elevating the animals to a higher standard of living than most of their fellow American humans:

Eight "sensational suites" go for $110 each and feature flat-screen TVs with DVD players so homesick hounds can watch flicks such as "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and "Fox and the Hound," which the hotel stocks.

Its two $200-a-night "ubersuites" feature a queen-size bed, 19-foot ceilings and 42-inch TVs with cable.

"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." —Samuel Adams.